The Broncos are in good position to take hold of the conference, as the team has the tiebreaker over the Patriots after winning head to head against the team, while Denver also plays Cincy coming up before the season ends.
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The Oakland Raiders have had a hard schedule in the back half of things and have been hitting some road bumps over their last few games.
The Broncos come into the weekend at 10-2 and they started off second in the conference behind the Bengals, who saw Andy Dalton leave their game with an injury.
Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) is tackled by Denver Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe (95) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Denver.
Quarterback Derek Carr threw for two touchdowns in the second half, and the Raiders defense, led by defensive end Khalil Mack’s five sacks, did not allow an offensive touchdown as Oakland shook off a sluggish start to beat the Denver Broncos 15-12 Sunday.
Perhaps one of the only knocks on Brock Osweilers play thus far this season is his propensity to have passes batted out of the air.
The one that really stung was a drop by a wide-open Vernon Davis at the Oakland 42 on fourth-and-5 from the Denver 37 with 3:45 left. Osweiler has yet to throw for more than 270 yards in any of his games this year. Or possibly the takedown of the 6-foot-7 Osweiler on the final drive, when the Broncos were trying to move into field-goal range. Rookie Raiders WR Amari Cooper did not have a reception despite being targeted eight times. Latavius Murray’s touchdown run was negated by an offside penalty but Carr passed 11 yards to Seth Roberts on the next play for a score, pulling the Raiders to within 12-7 with 9:47 remaining in the third quarter.
When the Broncos free kicked it to the Raiders, Oakland punted to the Broncos where Emmanuel Sanders muffed in Denver territory before Carr connected with Mychal Rivera for a 16-touchdown which fooled new safety Shiloh Keo.
“He was unbelievable”, Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said of Mack. “That’s just a hats off to everybody on the team for going out and continuing to grind and getting this win”. As it turns out, long snapper Jon Condo was injured and wasn’t available to snap the ball.
In his first three starts, Osweiler completed 59 of 95 pass attempts (62.1 percent) for 686 yards, four touchdowns and only two interceptions. The Raiders missed a chance to add to their lead when kicker Sebastian Janikowski was wide left on a 43-yard field-goal try.
Denver was not able to find the end zone, settling for four field goals while a chorus of boos came down.
Oakland’s lack of production in the first 30 minutes was the lowest figure by any team in the first half since November 1, 1992, when the Chargers held the Colts to minus-5 yards.
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“To have an extra set of eyes – especially his eyes – out there and helping me and coaching me through the whole situation is something that I appreciated”, Osweiler said. They defied the expectations of many and did something they haven’t done in a long, long time – contended for a playoff spot late into the season.
